Glendale city manager to retire

Longtime Glendale City Manager Jim Starbird will retire at the end of the year after nearly 14 years with the city, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Starbird has helmed City Hall since March 1998 after working in the California cities of Eureka, Monrovia and West Covina before his time in Glendale. He has no plans other than to travel and enjoy time with his family upon retirement, officials said.

“Jim Starbird is one of the finest City Managers in the State and his departure will be deeply felt,” Mayor Laura Friedman said in a statement. “Under his administration, Glendale has weathered the country’s most severe economic downturn in decades and he has been instrumental in overseeing the consolidation of departments and services that will benefit us well into the future.”

The official announcement came after Starbird notified city executives and elected officials on Wednesday of his decision.

“A good city manager aspires to pass on to their successor a city and organization in better condition than when they received it,” he said in a memo to council members. “I feel very good about the accomplishments of the past 14 years that have improved both the community and the organization.”

His departure will come on the heels of other significant departures, including City Attorney Scott Howard’s August retirement announced in May and Community Services & Parks Director George Chapjian’s move to the parks director position in Long Beach.